Over the past month, a lot of attention has been
focused on the 2003 Stanley Cup Playoffs and the keys to winning it all.
Every year, most critics seem to agree that along with experience, heart, determination
& a dash of luck, a hot goaltender is key in bringing home the Holy Grail
of hockey. I don't think I need to convince anyone this is truly
the case, or need to remind you of past goaltending heroics that lead
teams to the promised land. There is however, one thing that has
been nagging at me for a few weeks now. A lot has been written and
reported on the new school of goaltenders and on how Quebec seems to be
the breeding ground for the hottest goalies in the NHL. Some
reports even went as far as saying that the "butterfly" style, developed
by Francois Allaire and mastered by Patrick Roy in the mid 80's has lead
the way for this new generation of Quebec-bred goaltenders to take a
step forward in the puck-stopping department. As I'm about to show
you, nothing could be farther from the truth.

The
year was 1986, when Patrick Roy introduced himself & his butterfly style
goaltending to the NHL. A hero was born overnight, with it, a
highlight-reel style of goaltending that would inspire young goaltenders
even 15 years later. Roy went on to backstop the Montreal
Canadiens to the franchise's 23rd Stanley Cup & became the first rookie
in Playoff history to win the Conn Smythe trophy ( awarded to the most
valuable player for his team in the playoffs ). Only one other
player has ever repeated this feat, ironically a goaltender, Ron Hextall, on a Philadelphia Flyers team that didn't go on to win the
Stanley Cup. A lot of critics think that Giguere could become the
second goaltender in history to win the award as a member of the losing
team, should the Ducks fail to win the Cup. The accomplishments of
Roy do not end there, as he holds the record for most Conn Smythe
trophies in a career with 3 ( 1986, 1993, 2001 ), four Stanley Cups (
1986, 1993, 1996, 2001 ) and 5 Stanley Cup Final appearances. If
an aspiring goaltender was to model his style after someone, it definitely
should be Roy. Enter Martin Brodeur.

Brodeur
made his NHL debut in the 1993-94 season, and was awarded the Calder
Trophy ( Awarded to the player selected as the most proficient in his
first year of competition in the NHL ), better known as "Rookie of the
Year". Unlike Roy, Brodeur would not win the Stanley Cup during his
rookie campaign, as the Devils lost the chance to advance to the Finals
in dramatic fashion, losing the Conference Final Game 7 in
Overtime to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions of that year, the New
York Rangers. He would return the next year though, backstopping
the Devils to their franchise's first Stanley Cup. He repeated the
feat in 2000, and in 2001, it was student vs. teacher when the Colorado
Avalanche faced off against The New Jersey Devils. Roy vs.
Brodeur. Experience prevailed, and Roy hoisted the Cup for the
fourth time, and perhaps the last, as rumors keep surfacing about the
announcement of his retirement sometime this summer. Although I
think Roy still has a few good years left, I can't think of anything
left for him to accomplish. On to the current Stanley Cup
Finals...

Entering
this year's Conference Finals were 4 Quebec Goaltenders: New
Jersey's Brodeur, Minnesota's Manny Fernandez, Ottawa's Patrick Lalime,
and the hottest topic of the post-season, J-S Giguere. Articles
surfaced everywhere of the Quebec goaltending dominance, the new school
of goaltenders who modeled their careers & styles after their hero,
Patrick Roy since his arrival in 1986. But have Quebec-bred
goaltenders dominated since then ? Apparently not. Since
1986, only 4 goaltenders from the QMJHL have appeared in the Stanley Cup
Finals including Roy. Furthermore, one of those goaltenders
is Rejean Lemelin ( Boston Bruins, 1988 Stanley Cup Finals ), who
started his NHL career in 1979. Needless to say, Lemelin wasn't
inspired by Roy, nor did he emulate his style. In other words,
only Martin Brodeur and first-time Stanley Cup Finalist J-S Giguere have
made it all the way to the show. So why all the fuss about
Quebec-bred goaltenders ?

Maybe
it's the fact that the final four were Quebec-bred goaltenders, but
let's not forget the others that didn't even make the post season.
For every Brodeur, there's a Thibeault, for every Giguere, there's a
Theodore. In all 16 teams making the post-season this year, only
five ever played in the QMJHL, roughly 30 %. The same amount of
goaltenders coming from the NCAA, yet we hear nothing of American
college hockey breeding great goaltenders; nor should we. Fact of
the matter is, great goaltending is not league dependant, it's talent
dependant. I strongly believe that if a goaltender has enough
talent, he can cause enough stir to eventually make it onto a Stanley
Cup contending team. Look at Dominik Hasek, for example. The
Sabres would've never advanced past Round 1 in 1999 had it not been for
his heroics. It was also those heroics that made him a must on the
Detroit Red Wings' roster last year. The result: Hasek
retired with a Stanley Cup ring. Talent.

Below
is a chart of all the goaltenders who have appeared in the Finals since
Roy's inception in 1986. The highlights represent QMJHL prospects.

YEAR

Finals (Winning Team in Bold)

Win. Goalie

Drafted From

Losing Goalie

Drafted From

1986

Montreal vs. Calgary

Patrick Roy

Granby Bisons (QMJHL)

Mike Vernon

Calgary Wranglers (WHL)

1987

Edmonton vs. Philadelphia

Grant Fuhr

Victoria Cougars (WHL)

Ron Hextall

Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)

1988

Edmonton vs. Boston

Grant Fuhr

Victoria Cougars (WHL)

Rejean Lemelin

Sherbrooke
Beavers (QMJHL)

1989

Calgary vs. Montreal

Mike Vernon

Calgary Wranglers (WHL)

Patrick Roy

Granby Bisons (QMJHL)

1990

Edmonton vs. Boston

Bill Ranford

New-Westminster
Bruins (WHL)

Andy Moog

Billings Bighorns (WHL)

1991

Pittsburgh vs. Minnesota

Tom Barrasso

Acton-Boxboro H.
S. (Massachusetts)

Jon Casey

U. of North Dakota
(NCAA)

1992

Pittsburgh vs. Chicago

Tom Barrasso

Acton-Boxboro H.
S. (Massachusetts)

Ed Belfour

North
Dakota U (NCAA)

1993

Montreal vs. Los Angeles

Patrick Roy

Granby Bisons (QMJHL)

Kelly Hrudey

Medicine-Hat
Tigers (WHL)

1994

NY Rangers vs. Vancouver

Mike Richter

U of Wisconsin
(NCAA)

Kirk McLean

Oshawa Generals
(OHL)

1995

New Jersey vs. Detroit

Martin Brodeur

St-Hyacinthe
Lasers (QMJHL)

Mike Vernon

Calgary Wranglers (WHL)

1996

Colorado vs. Florida

Patrick Roy

Granby Bisons (QMJHL)

John Vambiesbrouck

Sault-Ste.
Marie Greyhounds (OHL)

1997

Detroit vs. Philadelphia

Mike Vernon

Calgary Wranglers (WHL)

Garth Snow

Mount St. Charles H.S. (R.I.)

1998

Detroit vs. Washington

Chris Osgood

Medicine Hat
Tigers (WHL)

Olaf Kolzig

Tri-City
Americans (WHL)

1999

Dallas vs. Buffalo

Ed Belfour

North
Dakota U (NCAA)

Dominik Hasek

Indianapolis Ice
(IHL)

2000

New Jersey vs. Dallas

Martin Brodeur

St-Hyacinthe
Lasers (QMJHL)

Ed Belfour

North
Dakota U (NCAA)

2001

Colorado vs. New Jersey

Patrick Roy

Granby Bisons (QMJHL)

Martin Brodeur

St-Hyacinthe
Lasers (QMJHL)

2002

Detroit vs. Carolina

Dominik Hasek

Indianapolis Ice
(IHL)

Artus Irbe

Dynamo Riga
(Latvia)

2003

New Jersey vs. Anaheim

Martin Brodeur

St-Hyacinthe
Lasers (QMJHL)

Jean-Sebastien Giguere

Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)

Needless
to say, only the names of Brodeur & Roy seem to surface in highlights.
We do have a newcomer this year in Giguere, making it only the second
time a QMJHL prospect will be guaranteed to drink from the Cup.
My prediction:
New Jersey in 5.